• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!
  • Welcome to our archives. No new posts are allowed here.

Bigger Threat...Saddam or Bin Laden? (1 Viewer)

Saddam or Osama - Who Was The Bigger Threat to America?

  • Osama Bin Laden

    Votes: 17 77.3%
  • Saddam Hussein

    Votes: 5 22.7%

  • Total voters
    22

26 X World Champs

Banned
DP Veteran
Joined
Mar 6, 2005
Messages
7,536
Reaction score
429
Location
Upper West Side of Manhattan (10024)
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Liberal
I've been debating back and forth with some of you, and one of you in particular as to who posed a bigger threat to America, Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. So my question is whose been the man you fear most, Saddam or OBL?

Personally Saddam was nothing to me, didn't threaten my life in any shape or form, not even a teeny weeny bit.

Bin Laden? I live in Manhattan and saw buildings less than 5 miles form where I live, and less than 2 miles from where my children go to school blown up and blown down taking with them the lives of 3000 innocent souls.

I personally think it is pure insanity, a serious detachment from the real world to believe that Saddam was any threat to us, no less a bigger threat than OBL! Of course the fact that there's not one thread of evidence to suggest or support that Saddam was a bigger agent of death to Americans doesn't prevent some of your from believing that a man who killed no one threatened you more than a man who killed thousands.

So let's see what you all think? Take the poll and choose one or the other...
 
Last edited:
I think the biggest threat to the world would be George W Bush. His disaterous policies and mass murder and torture are only going to get worse. He started a never-ending war against everybody the US considers and enemy, cleverly named a "terrorist". This war on Bushs enemies (terrorism) is completely unjust and will prove to be the most brutal, insane, violent, imperialistic, and devestating war since world war two. The only difference being that this one wont end as quick. There is torture and massive violence already. We have defied international law with our illegal invasion of Iraq, which may cause a civil war in Iraq. It has also caused massive violence and deaths of civilians. This will only increase once Bu$h tries to invade Iran, syria, etc. I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that.

Saddam and Bin Laden are nowhere neer as big a threats as Bu$h is. I honestly think that he should be tried for war crimes along with his whole cabinet. Maybe even crimes against humanity. Saddam and Bin Laden do not consern me. We are the ones who gave Saddam the weapons he used on his own people AND we trained Bin Laden to be a terrorist! And to the thread starter, yes 911 was horrible, but welcome to the real world. These things happen all the time a lot of the time we have a roll to play in similar things. Whos the biggest threat here? Bush and the entire US government!
 
Last edited:
>I think the biggest threat to the world would be George W Bush.<Blackflagx

You took the words right out of my mouth.

Although, I believe Bush is a threat to the world, I believe he's an even bigger threat to our own security here in the states, but for different reasons.

What Bush has done to our economy, and debt, and deficit, will have far lasting effects well into the future. Generations will feel the pain of his spending.

I've read that we will need double-digit growth, each year, for the next 75 years to pay off the debt this man has created...an impossibility, since during the 'dot-com' boom of the nineties growth averaged about 3.2%.

So...were looking at a debt that may still be around 200 years from now?

Our dollar has weakened, the trade deficit is still out of whack, ( I know it recently dropped a bit, but big deal), and foreign nations now own much of the U.S. in the form of stocks.

This debt could bring the U.S. to its knees, but no one wants to hear about dry topics like trade deficits, and taxes and tariffs and out-sourcing and GNP.

People want to hear about run-away brides, Michael Jackson, steroids in baseball, fingers in fast food chili, cheating husbands, teachers that seduce school kids, small planes that fly into restricted airspace, sexy dancing cheerleaders, and poor unfortunates with feeding tubes.

I blame the conservative media...that's right....the conservative media, a media that takes our attention away from the important issues for the sake of profit and ratings and sensationalism.

This plays right into Bush's hands.
 
Blackflagx said:
And to the thread starter, yes 911 was horrible, but welcome to the real world. These things happen all the time a lot of the time we have a roll to play in similar things. Whos the biggest threat here? Bush and the entire US government!
With all due respect, it is a cop out to blame Bush for 9-11! I am not in any way a supporter of Bush, but I also am fair! You've tossed out lots of radical rhetoric but you've not shown one iota of evidence that supports anything you wrote.

I guess the fact that I am actually defending Bush should show how wrong I really believe you are. Your post did something to me that never happened on these boards before, namely my defending Bush! What does that tell you?
 
26 X World Champs said:
With all due respect, it is a cop out to blame Bush for 9-11! I am not in any way a supporter of Bush, but I also am fair! You've tossed out lots of radical rhetoric but you've not shown one iota of evidence that supports anything you wrote.

I guess the fact that I am actually defending Bush should show how wrong I really believe you are. Your post did something to me that never happened on these boards before, namely my defending Bush! What does that tell you?

I have to agree. The line that really got me was the following...

>I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that.<Blackflagx

No one who is truely an American should hope for something like this.

On another note...26XWorldChamps...I thought you'd be interested to know that my very own StL Cardinals are the only team in history who have a winning record against the Yankees in World Series play! LOL! Of course, we don't have 26 World Championships, only 9 at last count, but we probably have 1/10th the payroll! LOL ( Just kidding around with you, but StL does have a better won/lost record against the Yankees)
 
Hoot said:
On another note...26XWorldChamps...I thought you'd be interested to know that my very own StL Cardinals are the only team in history who have a winning record against the Yankees in World Series play! LOL! Of course, we don't have 26 World Championships, only 9 at last count, but we probably have 1/10th the payroll! LOL ( Just kidding around with you, but StL does have a better won/lost record against the Yankees)
The Cards have won the 2nd most World Series and have a fantastic history. They always seem to be in the mix. This year their division is incredibly weak, so they should have a cake walk until October.
 
>I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that.<Blackflagx

Honestly, I dont want this war to exist in the fist place, but it does. I dont want to see working class soldiers blown to bits, but I feel that the iraqis have a right to resist. We have invaded their country and they have every right to fight back, I would do the same thing. Iraq right now is in a national liberation struggle and I must support them because of this. I hope you do realize that the majority of the Iraqi militants are not the car bombing, beheading types you see on the corporate media. Some of the top resistance leaders have condemned the death of civilians in the war, and have condemned the shiite resistance led by zarqouwi because of their tactics. The majority of the militants are fighting the US troops and, allthough I dont like it, they have every right to do so.
 
"I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that"...Are you serious?

Only a traitor would say something like that. That is probably one of the most rediculous statements I have ever heard. These are our fellow American soldiers fighting for us. They are 18 year olds putting their lives on the line. Disagree with the war if you wish, that is American and thankfully we have those rights. Hoping our soldiers die, however, is wrong. You don't deserve to live in this country if that is how you feel.
 
Blackflagx said:
I think the biggest threat to the world would be George W Bush. His disaterous policies and mass murder and torture are only going to get worse. He started a never-ending war against everybody the US considers and enemy, cleverly named a "terrorist". This war on Bushs enemies (terrorism) is completely unjust and will prove to be the most brutal, insane, violent, imperialistic, and devestating war since world war two. The only difference being that this one wont end as quick. There is torture and massive violence already. We have defied international law with our illegal invasion of Iraq, which may cause a civil war in Iraq. It has also caused massive violence and deaths of civilians. This will only increase once Bu$h tries to invade Iran, syria, etc. I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that.

Saddam and Bin Laden are nowhere neer as big a threats as Bu$h is. I honestly think that he should be tried for war crimes along with his whole cabinet. Maybe even crimes against humanity. Saddam and Bin Laden do not consern me. We are the ones who gave Saddam the weapons he used on his own people AND we trained Bin Laden to be a terrorist! And to the thread starter, yes 911 was horrible, but welcome to the real world. These things happen all the time a lot of the time we have a roll to play in similar things. Whos the biggest threat here? Bush and the entire US government!


My thoughts exactly
 
bin laden is probably a bigger threat. But i think another threat is our ignorance to the fact that many of the top terrorist organizations formed in response to Western handlings of the Mid-east. We should understand what truly drives the terrorist movement as we attempt to dismantle it.
 
I think by the time of the invasion Saddam was a bigger threat in the longrun since Osama's terror wings are in tatters, the real question is who do you wan't to see dead more. The answer would be Osama overwhelmingly.
 
Really? As I recall his base of operations in afghanistan was crushed with thousands killed along with millions of dollar's in equipment captured along with hideout's and mountain bases destroyed. His command wing's are mostly dead or captured and he has not carried out a major terror attack since the invasion of Afghanistan. It's an irrefutable fact that his terrorist orginization was mauled terribly in Afghanistan.
 
superskippy said:
Really? As I recall his base of operations in afghanistan was crushed with thousands killed along with millions of dollar's in equipment captured along with hideout's and mountain bases destroyed. His command wing's are mostly dead or captured and he has not carried out a major terror attack since the invasion of Afghanistan. It's an irrefutable fact that his terrorist orginization was mauled terribly in Afghanistan.
But what about the international al-Queda connections? And their attacks around the world? Bin Laden may have been beaten in Afghanistan, but his terror network continues to attack and gain members.
 
It is arguable whether they are his terror wings or not that are gaining members, certaintly there has been a sudden spike of terror activity this year from the bombings in London and Egypt and Istanbul. None however have been linked to Al-Queda.
 
superskippy said:
It is arguable whether they are his terror wings or not that are gaining members, certaintly there has been a sudden spike of terror activity this year from the bombings in London and Egypt and Istanbul. None however have been linked to Al-Queda.
From http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,642825,00.html :

"Although half of al-Qaeda's 30 senior leaders and perhaps 2,000 rank-and-file members have been killed or captured, a rump leadership is still intact and more than 18,000 potential terrorists are still at large, with recruitment accelerating on account of Iraq."

This hardly seems to be a group in tatters.
 
Personally I think that the term "Al Queda" is just that....a term. It is used to describe anyone who is Anti-American or Anti-Western....So in that aspect there is no way that Al Queda is broken or dimished seeing as to how there is more Anti-Western/America feelings now than there has been at any time throughout America's history



peace
 
To answer the original question, Osama bin Laden (and more specifically Al Queda and their sympathizers) are a far greater threat to the United States.

Osama bin Laden is a far greater threat to US security not so much in his ability to attack the US directly, which has been jeopardized a great deal since the Afghanistan invasion, but because of his recruiting power in the eyes of Muslim fundamentalists and impressionable Muslim youth. The man represents defiance, determination, and survival against the most powerful nation on earth, a powerful rallying point for those opposed to US actions in the Muslim world.

Saddam Hussein may be a vile, murderous, tyrant but he was never a direct threat to American national security. The only major threat Saddam ever posed to the US was to American oil interests in neighboring Arab states, 15 years ago during the Gulf War. Not to say that he couldn't have one day re-developed WMD's if left unchecked, but given the containment efforts of the UN, and countries that upheld them and the sanctions, Saddam was in no position to rearm himself much less attack other countries at the time of the US invasion.
 
good post Chris, I agree that Osama is the bigger threat, as he has become a symbol for the terrorist movement. A guy who can evade the US and heads one of the largest terrorist organization is certainly not someone to be underestimated.
 
I think that UbL the myth is more dangerous than UbL the man. From what I've read aQ as it once was is no more. However, aQ as it is now is growing.

Nowadays, aQ's a "fire in the mind" as GWB (or Dostoyevsky) would say.

Sadam had long proven himself to be subject to deterrence when it came to attackng the US. The threats of a "resounding silence" in the Iraqi desert, the threat of "national obliteraqtion" had rendered his calculations re the US ones of mostly just trying to protect himself. Mostly, he was caught up with Iran.

He was a tinpot punk compared to the US and he was well aware of it.

Ubl & aQ are not afraid of national obliteration and hope that we render a resounding silence somewhere in the Islamic world. They have more or less achieved their goal of setting in motion events to radicalize as many Muslims around the world as possible. Of they had help from the WH in making this happen. Couldn't've done it w/o them actually.
 
Blackflagx said:
I think the biggest threat to the world would be George W Bush. His disaterous policies and mass murder and torture are only going to get worse. He started a never-ending war against everybody the US considers and enemy, cleverly named a "terrorist". This war on Bushs enemies (terrorism) is completely unjust and will prove to be the most brutal, insane, violent, imperialistic, and devestating war since world war two. The only difference being that this one wont end as quick. There is torture and massive violence already. We have defied international law with our illegal invasion of Iraq, which may cause a civil war in Iraq. It has also caused massive violence and deaths of civilians. This will only increase once Bu$h tries to invade Iran, syria, etc. I just hope the military is crushed by the Iraqi resistance before that.

Saddam and Bin Laden are nowhere neer as big a threats as Bu$h is. I honestly think that he should be tried for war crimes along with his whole cabinet. Maybe even crimes against humanity. Saddam and Bin Laden do not consern me. We are the ones who gave Saddam the weapons he used on his own people AND we trained Bin Laden to be a terrorist! And to the thread starter, yes 911 was horrible, but welcome to the real world. These things happen all the time a lot of the time we have a roll to play in similar things. Whos the biggest threat here? Bush and the entire US government!



My friend I Totally agree!
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom